Steering Wheel Vibration?

[abnovak]

Hey,

I'm looking for some help in diagnosing a problem that I've been having with my 2006 Mazda 3 GT. During the last snowfall of the year, I slid into a curb pretty badly damaging the driver front wheel. At the time, I had to have the control arm and rim replaced. After the dealership did the repairs, I noticed that there was a droning noise and a little bit of vibration in the steering wheel. The dealership and I attributed it to warn down tires that were approaching the wear bar. It's been a few months now, and last week I had new tires put on. I went with Bridgestone Potenzas G019s instead of the OEM wheels because the old ones wore down way to fast for me. But I still noticed the noise and vibration. I brought the car back to the dealership and they replaced the hub and wheel bearing. Fortunately, the noise has just about completely gone away, but there is still some vibration and shimmying in the steering wheel when I drive above 55-60mph. I can feel the steering wheel vibrate in my hands and when I take my hands off you can see the steering wheel wiggle a bit. Is there anything else that could be causing this vibration? How much vibration in the steering wheel is normal?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Olestra]

You probably have this going on:

http://www.protegefaq.net/tsb/

TSB: 03-001/06
2004-2006 MAZDA3, 2006 MAZDA5 - BODY VIBRATION AT CRUISE SPEED

 

[Nomad]

Bad balance, could be a rear wheel too. Get a quality high speed balance on a hunter machine

Warped brake rotors

Poor alignment

 

[EMPIRE]

Bad balance, could be a rear wheel too. Get a quality high speed balance on a hunter machine

Warped brake rotors

Poor alignment

I agree with you. I had that problem a couple years ago. I went and got an alignment and made sure the pressure in the tires were even and the shaking stopped. Try that out and you should be good to go.

 

[abnovak]

Hey Empire,

So I got an alignment. Luckily the dealer did it for free. But, I am still getting some steering wheel vibration. Is there anything else I should look for?

-a

 

[mazda50]

ya man your rotors could be warpped or your brake pads are bad so check that out or it could be the balance of your tires not being balanced right

 

[sunrun176]

I think the brake rotors being warped is likely only if you notice the shimmy when applying pressure to the brakes and not at all when you aren't. Otherwise that's probably not the culprit.

I'll second the notion that it might be improper tire balance. Go to www.gsp9700.com to find a shop nearby with the right equipment.

Beyond that, I'm betting that the impact with the curb could actually have bent the drive shaft (or other components thereof) as well, and even a few microns of deflection angle might be enough to generate the amount of vibration at speed that you describe, especially if it's not (as) noticeable at low speed (say 1-15 MPH).